Springfield - State Senator Dan Rutherford (R-Pontiac) was forced to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) appeal this month after Blagojevich's Illinois Environmental Agency (IEPA) refused to release public information about new sewer fees paid by municipalities and local governments throughout Illinois.
The agency denied Rutherford -s request that it disclose information about National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) fees imposed last year by the Blagojevich administration. Specifically, the senator is asking for the names and dollar amounts each community sewer facility was charged.
Rutherford said that he believes the agency is stonewalling because the information will reveal that downstate, suburban and rural communities are being hit harder by the fees than the City of Chicago .
-All along I have believed this fee would disproportionately tax all other communities, while the City of Chicago would get off with a much, much smaller fee,- Rutherford said. -I am sure the information I am requesting will be the proof of what I am saying, which explains why the IEPA is dragging its feet.-
The senator warned that he is prepared to seek a court order to get the information, if that becomes necessary.
"Last year this administration raised over 300 fees on businesses and consumers in Illinois . Blagojevich is now proposing 200 more fees this year. Since the public was finding it hard to see a list of those fees we posted them on the Committee for Legislative Action website: www.committeeforlegislativeaction.org . We helped bring sunlight to this issue.
-Those who usually avoid the sunlight are vampires and politicians who have something to hide,- Rutherford said. -Refusing to respond to my FOIA is more of the same from the Blagojevich administration.-
-When a State Senator has trouble receiving public information from a state agency, alarm bells should go off,- Rutherford said. -This is information that is in the public domain, information that the members of the General Assembly need in determining the impact these fees are having on communities throughout Illinois .-
